Always Here
by J.Alberghini
Summary: My series about Sora and Tai.
1. Midnight Adventure

Disclaimer: Digimon does not belong to me.

Always Here

Midnight Adventure

Sora and I have been best friends since I can remember. We've always been so close. Especially since her father died.

*Flashback*

One day, when I came home from school, I saw my mom sitting at the kitchen table with the phone in her hand. Her eyes were red.

"How was school, honey?" She got up and put a plate of cookies in front of me.

"Okay."

"That's good." She aimlessly wiped some dust off the kitchen counter. "Sora's going to stay with us for a few days. I want you to help me clean up a little."

"Okay." I agreed. "Why can't she stay in at her own house?"

My mom sighed. "Mr. Takenouchi came home yesterday. Sora's mom thinks it'd be better if she wasn't around. 

"Oh." Even though I was still a little kid, I knew about Sora's father. He had been in the hospital for a long time because he had cancer. My mom and Mrs. Takenouchi were good friends. Judging by the way she looked and sounded this couldn't be good. "Is he okay?"

She wouldn't look at me.

"Is he going to die?"

Mom hugged me. "I don't know, sweetie." I knew that meant yes. "I want you to be extra nice to Sora, okay?"

I nodded. But I wasn't going to be. A lot of kids at school were and Sora hated it. So I was only going to be as nice to her as I normally was, which was pretty nice. 

Sora came over with her mom a half-hour before dinner. 

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Mom asked politely, even though we knew she didn't. 

"No. I'd better get back." She replied.

"I'll give you something to take with you." My mom put stuff in a bowl and covered it with foil.

Sora's mother took it. "Thank you. I'll see you in a few days, okay Sora?"

"Okay." She hugged her.

"Thank you for everything." She said to my parents.

"It's our pleasure," said my dad. She left.

"Sit down between Tai and Kari." My mom instructed.

Sora put her stuff down and did as she was told. I smiled at her sadly. She didn't smile back.

"Hey, why don't we play a game after dinner?" Dad said. "Kari and I could play against the three of you."  
"Yea!" Kari cheered.

Sora put her fork down. "No, thank you. Excuse me."

My parents exchanged a look. My dad started to go after her, but Mom shook her head. 

"Let her be alone."

We didn't see Sora until it was time for bed. The sleeping arrangements were like this: Dad on the couch in the living room, Kari in our bedroom, and me and Sora in the big bedroom with Mom.

Around midnight, I woke up and went to get a glass of water. I passed Sora on the way to the kitchen.

"What are you doing awake?" I asked. She was dressed and holding her jacket in her hand. 

"I want to go see my daddy."  
"Now?"

She nodded. "Mommy won't let me see him, so I have to go while she's asleep."  
"You can't go out alone." I said.

"Then I guess you'll have to go with me."

I started to protest, but I could see her mind was made up. "Okay. I'll go."

"Good. Do you know where the keys are?"  
I pointed at the hook by the door.

"Take them. We'll need them to get back in." I was impressed. She really had the whole thing planned out. I nodded and went to get the keys. I had to stand on a chair, but I managed.

Sora opened the door and we tiptoed out so we wouldn't wake my parents.

"Are you sure you know the way? I asked when we were in the elevator.

She nodded. "You scared?"

"Not really." I replied. That was true, although I wasn't absolutely certain about going to see a dying man.

"I am." She said. I took her hand and squeezed it.

We got to the first floor and sneaked, past the doorman, outside. That was easy since we were both pretty small. And he mostly slept on the job.

We walked a couple of blocks to Sora's building.

"How are we supposed to get there?" I asked.

She pointed at the fire escape. "The window's broken and the security system doesn't work, so we should be able to get inside. Are you sure you want to do this?"

I nodded, looking braver than I felt. We climbed all the way to the sixth floor and pushed open the window. I gave her a boost and she climbed in. Then I climbed up. We were in the bathroom.

"This way." She whispered. We went into the living room. Her father was lying on the couch and her mother was asleep next to him.

We tiptoed over to him. "Daddy?" Sora whispered.

He opened his eyes. "Sora, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, Daddy."

He glanced over at me. "Tai? You too?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. At least you were together."

"I'm going to miss you, Daddy. Please don't leave." Sora cried.

"It's okay, sweetheart. No matter what happens, I'll always be here in your heart. Can you remember that?" She nodded. "Good. Now I want you two to go back to Tai's apartment."

"Okay, Daddy." We started to leave.

"Wait, Tai."

I turned around. "Yes, sir?"

"Sora, wait for him over there for a minute." She obeyed. "Come here." He said to me.

I went to him.

"I want you to take care of Sora, okay? Promise me you'll do that."

"I promise, sir."

"Now go home. I won't tell anyone you were here."  
"Yes, sir. Come on, Sora." She cast one last look at her father and then we went into the bathroom, climbed out the window and went down the fire escape.

We walked in silence back to my building. I let us in. We tiptoed into the apartment and climbed back into bed.

"Good night, Sora." I whispered.

"Night, Tai." She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

No one ever knew about what we did. Sora's father kept his word, I know. Because he died the next morning. But I'll never forget my promise to him.

To be continued…


	2. Don't Cry Over Spilt Milk

Disclaimer: Digimon doesn't belong to me. 

Always Here

Don't Cry Over Spilt Milk

After my father's death, my mother spent endless hours in her flower shop. She did nothing. She just sat there, staring at the flowers. This went on for weeks. We barely had any food in the house and she never went shopping for more. Most of the time, Tai brought stuff over. It was almost as if she had lost her will to live. Tai and I knew this couldn't go on much longer. We decided that if she wasn't going to take care of things, we would.

*Flashback*

One afternoon, Tai came over my house after school. This wasn't out of the ordinary; he had been coming over almost everyday. First, though, we stopped at the store to buy some cookies four our after-school snack. 

We sat down at the kitchen table. I got out two glasses and a carton of milk. I opened it and pulled it away from my face. "Eew! It smells awful!"

Tai bravely came over and sniffed it. "Yuck! What's the expiration date?"

I turned it around. "It expired two weeks ago."

"We'd better tell your mom that you need milk." Tai said.

"She won't pay attention. We have to get it ourselves."

"Do you have any money?" Tai asked me.

I took some out of my pocket and counted it. "I have three dollars left. Is that enough?"

Tai shrugged. "I don't know. I have two. If we put our money together, that should take care of it."

"Let's get it then." We went back to the convenience store, straight to the milk aisle.

"We should get a big gallon. It'll last longer." Tai said.

I agreed. We were only eight, so we didn't have much experience buying milk, otherwise I wouldn't have.

Tai tried to lift it up. "It's too heavy."

I grabbed the other end and we carried it to the counter. Tai set it down while I paid for it. Then we lugged it all the way to my apartment building and then up the stairs because the elevators were broken. We went inside; I had to push the door, which I hadn't locked, open with my foot.

As soon as we got in we collapsed on the coach. Unfortunately, we forgot that we were still carrying the milk. It burst and got all over the rug. 

"Oh no!" I cried. "What are we going to do?"  
"Remain calm. We just have to wash it." We ran for the sponge and water and scrubbed at the rug, but with no luck.

"It's not coming out!"

"Obviously, soap and water aren't going to work. We need to use something else." Tai thought for a minute. "I know! Club soda. I saw it on television."

"We don't have any club soda. We only have Ginger Ale."

"We have to use what we've got." Tai took it out of the fridge and we poured it on the rug. Now it was a brownish-tan color and extremely sticky.

I heard a key in the lock. Mom was home!

"Hey, kids," she said distantly. She walked to her bedroom, then did a double take and backed up. "What happened here?"  
"We, um, got milk." I replied meekly.

"My rug!" She wailed. "Your grandmother gave this to me. I was so happy because I thought she didn't like me. Now I've lost this too. What were you thinking?"

"We had no choice, Mrs.Takenouchi." Tai said.

"Why did you even need to? We have plenty."

"It expired two weeks ago, Mommy. We don't have a lot of food here."  
"What are you talking about? We have plenty of food."  
I shook my head. "You haven't eaten much lately, so you don't know. Most of the stuff we have, Tai's mother sent over."

"It isn't the greatest," said Tai. "But it was better than what you had."

"I'm so sorry, Sora. I was so wrapped up in my own grief; I lost sight of the fact that I was neglecting taking care of you. Please forgive me." She started to cry. 

"I forgive you, Mommy. Don't cry. I understand."

Mom wiped away her tears. "We have to go food shopping right away. And maybe we can go shop for a rug in our spare time." I giggled. Mom turned to Tai and hugged him. "Thank you so much. You and your parents. I don't know what would have happened to us if it weren't for you."

Tai shrugged. "I don't know. Cried over spilt milk?"

I laughed. "Spilt sour milk."

"That's another thing we have to do," Mom said. "Clean the refrigerator."

"Let's eat something first," I said. "Have a cookie."

"You're right, I haven't been eating much." She took a cookie.

"Um, Mrs.Takenouchi?" Tai began. "I wouldn't eat that if I were you."

My mother didn't hear him. She bit into a cookie and spit it out. "Did you two make these with the sour milk?"

"No, that's what I was trying to tell you. Sora meant the ones we bought. Those were made by my mom."

"Oh." My mom said. "Tell her they're delicious."

"Okay. I'm sure she'll send you some more."

Mom grimaced. "Then again, never mind."  
Tai winked at me. I smiled back at him. Things certainly weren't easy. But with Tai and his mother's "food," things wouldn't be very sad anymore.

To be continued…


	3. Weathering The Storm

Disclaimer: Digimon does not belong to me.

Always Here

Weathering the Storm

Ever since I was a little kid, I've always been pretty brave. Not to be conceited or anything, but it's the truth. That's why I ended up with the crest of courage. But, up until I was eight, I had one big fear, well, actually, two big fears: thunder and lightening. I didn't tell anyone about it, even my parents. That's why I was so scared when it happened. Thank goodness for Sora.

*Flashback*

Every Friday, Sora and I would have soccer practice. But, one Friday, the coach was sick so he canceled it. Now, I've never been able to go without playing at least once a week and, back then, neither did Sora. So, we went to the park to play. It wasn't very far from school, so we were able to walk there. My mom planned to pick us up around five o'clock.

The two of us and a bunch of our school friends were in the middle of a game when it started pouring. We were drenched in five seconds. Everyone ran home or their parents came to pick them up. But my mom had to go somewhere that day and she wasn't able to come until five. Sora and I took shelter in the little hall between the bathrooms. That only gave us some protection, since it had a leak in the roof.

I sat in a corner as far away from the door as possible so I couldn't see. I tried to concentrate on the dripping and ignoring what was going on outside. But Sora didn't. In fact, she seemed fascinated by it.

Apparently, she thought I would be too. "Come on, Tai. Don't you want to watch?"

"No," I said.

"It's fun. I love thunder storms." Sora told me.

"Well, I don't." I replied stubbornly.

Sora looked at me curiously. "You're not afraid, are you, Tai?"

I didn't say anything.

"You are, aren't you?"

"Mind your own business."

She sat down next to me. "You don't have to be afraid, you know. They aren't bad things. They're sad things with happy endings. You know what my daddy used to tell me?"

"That it was the sound of angels bowling, and every time lightening flashed, someone got a strike?"

Sora shook her head. "No. He said that the rain is because someone's lost and they're crying. And the lightening and thunder helps them find their way like a lighthouse. And then, when he finally does the rain stops and a rainbow comes out because now he's smiling."

"But, how come it's upside down?" I asked.

"Because he's looking down at us, so his head's the wrong way."

I raised my eyebrow. Sora giggled.

"Now do you want to watch?" She asked.

"Um…" I hesitated.

"I'll hold your hand. You don't need to worry if I'm there. I'll protect you."

"Okay," I agreed. She took my hand and led me by the door.

"See, this isn't so bad, is it?"

I shook my head. Actually, it was kind of cool, now that I had a new perspective on it.

"Wouldn't be great," Sora said, "If it really did rain cats and dogs?"

"Yeah," I said. "I could get a kitten for Kari and a dog for me or two."

"Just as long as you don't step in a poodle." Sora joked. 

I laughed. "Hey, look. The rain's stopping."

"And there's the rainbow." Sora pointed to it.

"Wow, cool," I said. I heard a horn honk. It was my mom. We ran to meet her.

"Hey, sweetie. Hi, Sora. You guys look soaked. I wish I'd gotten here earlier."  
"It's okay."

"Yeah, we had fun." Sora agreed.

"Good." Mom smiled. "Now we'd better get you home to change." We climbed into the car. "You two are certainly "foul-weather friends."" Mom commented, seeing that we were still holding hands in the rearview mirror.

"Uh huh." We agreed. 

Sora squeezed my hand. "If you're ever scared about anything else, just tell me, okay?"  
I nodded. No matter how big the storm, we'd weather it together.

To be continued…


	4. Comforting The Comforter

Disclaimer: Digimon does not belong to me.

Always Here

Comforting the Comforter

Usually, when there is an anniversary of someone's death, his or her family members go to the cemetery and visit their grave. When my Dad had been dead for a year, that's just what my mom and I planned to do. But, the problem was, my mom went hysterical if I even mentioned it. I was upset about it myself. But I didn't want mom to know. I knew that, if we went to the cemetery, I would be upset which would make my mother more upset. And I didn't want to do that. Luckily, I came up with the perfect solution.

*Flashback*

At about 9 o'clock in the morning, I waited impatiently for Tai to come over. Finally, after what seemed like hours, he showed up.

"Bye, Mom. I'm going to the park with Tai." I called. 

Mom gave me a funny look. "You're going today?"

"Just for a little while."

"Well, all right. But be back by twelve, okay?"

"Okay." We stepped into the hall and I closed the door. 

"That's what was so important that you called me up at 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning?"

I shook my head. "I just told my mom that so she wouldn't suspect anything."

"Why, what do you want to do?"

"Remember what day it is?"

"It's Saturday. I just said it."

"Besides that."  
"Oh. It's the anniversary of your father's death, right?"

"Yeah, that's it." I said.

"So what does that have to do with me?" 

"Can you come to the cemetery with me?" I asked.

Tai looked at me strangely. "Isn't that something you should do with your mom?"  
"Yeah, that's why I have to be home by noon. We're going together."  
"Then why do you want to go now?"

"Mom gets really upset in the cemetery." I explained. "And so do I. I don't want her to see me upset. It'll make her feel worse."

"So you figure that if you go now, you won't be upset when you go later."

"Exactly," I replied. "So will you come? Just so I'm not alone?"

For a second, Tai looked like it was the last thing he wanted to do. But that passed and he said, "Of course I will."

"Thanks," I said, relieved. "We'd better leave now. The cemetery's pretty far away."  
"All right. Let's get our bikes. We'll meet back here in five minutes."  
"Okay." I hurried to get my bike and I brought it outside. Tai was already waiting there. "Wow, that was fast," I said breathlessly.

"How'd you think I got here?" He asked me.

I ignored him. "Let's go." We hopped on our bikes and rode to the cemetery. It took us a half-hour.

We gazed at the field of headstones for a few minutes before Tai asked, "Which one is his?"

"Follow me." We hiked down the rows, one after the other, until I finally located my father's three graves away from where the cemetery ended. I went up to it. Tai stayed a few feet behind me.

I knelt down on the ground and placed the single daisy I had brought, we would bring more later, behind a little bush that my mom had planted in front of it. It was pretty big and you could barely see the name. The tears I had been expecting didn't come. It actually felt comforting to be there, close to my father's body. Only when I turned to leave did I start to cry. Tai put his arm around me. 

"I don't want to be away from him again," I cried.

"You won't." He said soothingly. "Remember what he said? He'll always be in your heart."  
"You're right Tai. I was being stupid. It's just a body. Not him."

"No, you weren't being stupid. It's hard to think of someone being around when they're not in their body. Death just separates them from it. But that doesn't mean they're gone."  
I kissed Tai on the cheek. "Thank you for coming with me."

He blushed. "No problem, Sora. I'll always be here if you need me."

To be continued…  



	5. Kissing in the Cemetery

Disclaimer: Digimon does not belong to me.

Always Here

Kissing in a Cemetery

"Tai, could you get the door please?" Mom asked. 

"Sure, Mom," I called from the couch. "It's probably Sora."

"Why, you have a date?" Kari asked.

"No, mind your own business." Kari looked hurt. "I'm sorry. It's just between Sora and me okay? I don't want to leave you out, I'm just not able to tell you."

"All right." Kari agreed. I flung open the door. Instead of Sora, it was Matt and TK.

"What are you two doing here?"

"What kind of greeting is that?" Matt said.

"Aren't you glad to see us?" asked TK.

"Uh, yeah. I just thought you were someone else."

"Sora's coming over. Kari informed them. I gave her a mean look.

"Oh?" Amazing how a simple, two-letter word would mean so much.

"We had plans, okay?" I said annoyed.

"Ditching your best friend for a girl? I'm hurt."

"Sora is my best friend you doofus. Now leave. She's going to be here any minute."

"Sora's our friend, too. Why can't we stay?" said TK.

"Mom, a little help here."  
"Tai, be polite." Some help she was.

"Fine, you can stay. But I'm leaving."

"Deal." They came inside.

As soon as I shut the door, the doorbell rang. I opened it, ready to go. It was Izzy, Mimi and Joe.

"Hey, Tai!" Mimi said cheerfully. 

"Matt!" I yelled. "Did you tell them to come over?"

"No, I didn't. Don't accuse me."

"We just came because we felt like it," Joe said. "They felt like it, I should say."  
"Mimi felt like it rather," said Izzy. "She just dragged us along."

"You can leave if you want to." I said.

"Great!" They said together.

"Not so fast. You're staying."  
"Didn't you ever hear of calling first?" I cried. "I had specific plans today."

"With Sora," TK added.

"Oh, our mistake." Mimi giggled.

I put on my jacket. "You guys do what you want. I'm going to meet her downstairs."  
I stood on the corner until Sora came on her bike.

"Morning," she said solemnly. "What are you doing out here?"

"My house is being invaded. It seems like everyone wanted to come over today and didn't feel like picking up a phone."

"I could go by myself," Sora offered, "if you have better things to do."

I shook my head. "No, I don't. I mean, I want to go."

"Are you sure?"  
"Of course I'm sure. We go every year, right? Why's this year different?"

"It isn't. Let's go then."

We rode to the cemetery in silence. As usual, Sora put something on the grave and then cried on my shoulder before we left. Even though I hated to see a girl or anyone for that matter cry, this was an annual thing. I expected it; therefore, I didn't worry. I knew it was something she needed to do.

We started to leave, but Sora stopped. 

"Are you okay?" I asked. She didn't reply. Instead, she kissed me. Freaked out, I pulled away. It was one thing just to kiss someone, but in a cemetery? That just seemed wrong to me.

"Let's leave. I don't feel very comfortable here. I feel like everyone's staring at us."

"They're dead, Tai. They don't care."

"Well, I don't think we should be doing this. I mean, you're sad and vulnerable, right now." It wasn't exactly the smartest thing to say to her. I was being a chicken I knew, but I hoped she bought it. She didn't.

"Sad and vulnerable? Is that what you think I am?"  
"Well, yea, definitely the sad part."

"I'm visiting my father's grave. Of course I'm going to be sad. But that's not why I did it. Is it the dead people that make you uncomfortable or is it me?"

"Them, of course. Excuse me for being a little weirded out. I mean, today of all days. It seems a little odd to me."

"You never should have come." She stormed off.

I ran after her. "You can't be out here alone. What if you get attacked or something? No one will be there to protect you."

"I can protect myself just fine. And even if I don't, I'm already in a cemetery. All I'll need is a coffin." She ran away from me.

I kicked at a piece of rock. "Ouch!" I exclaimed. I looked at the rock. It was a gravestone. Oops.

"What am I going to do know?" I said to myself.

I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and saw Kari, Matt and the others running towards me. 

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We figured that you were here, so we thought we'd come join you guys." Kari said. "Where's Sora?"

"She ran off. I don't know where she went."

"Why? What'd you do?" Izzy asked. 

"She kissed me and I kinda freaked out, so she got mad and left."  
"Where could she be?" asked Joe.

"I don't know."  
"We'd better go look for her," Mimi said.

"Yeah, she couldn't have gone that far," Izzy agreed. "We'll split up into groups. Joe, you take Kari and TK and go that way. Mimi and I will go around the cemetery. Matt and Tai can search in this area."

"Okay," I said. "We'll meet back here in twenty minutes."

Matt and I searched practically the whole length of the cemetery, but we didn't find a trace of her.

"We have to meet the others soon," Matt said. "We might as well go back now." 

Just then, I saw something blue on the ground. I picked it up. It was Sora's hat! "She must have come this way," I said, excitedly. 

"You stay here. I don't think she wants to see you all that much right now. I'll be right back."

Bored, I took out my digivice. I saw a red dot blinking on it. It was coming from the opposite direction.

I followed the signal back to Sora's father's grave. Sitting next to it, hugging her knees to her chest, was Sora.

"Sora, I've been looking all over for you."  
She looked up. "Go away."

"I don't think so. Sora, what's the problem?"

"Just leave me alone, okay?"

"Are you mad at me?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm just upset."

"I'm sorry," I told her.

"It's all right. It was stupid."

"I didn't mean to freak out. I was just a little shocked, that's all."

"I know. I shocked myself. I just thought…"  
"What?" I lifted up her face so she would look at me.

"I thought that you didn't want to be around me anymore, so I figured that I'd do something that'd make you want to."

"Sora, of course I want to be around you. Why would you think anything else?"

"I don't know."  
"Well, you were wrong. I always want to be near you. I'll never ditch you for someone better, because there is no one better."  
Sora blushed. "Thanks, Tai."

"Your welcome. And I can't say that wasn't an added bonus. Just don't do it in a cemetery next time, okay?"

"What makes you think there will be a next time?" She said playfully.

"If you don't, I will, just not here. It gives me the creeps."

"Oh, Tai."  
"What "Oh, Tai"? It does. And your father's right there, too."

"Stupid Tai." She rolled her eyes, but she was grinning at me. "It's a cemetery. Not a church."

"Don't start that again. There are dead people here who are just waiting for something entertaining to happen."

"Shut up, or I'll kiss you in front of all the ghosts and spirits." Sora threatened.

I sighed. "If you insist." She smacked my arm. 

"Oo, you're going to get it for that," I said in a spooky voice. I chased her all the way out of the cemetery. I totally forgot about the others. As you could tell, I got endless teasing for it, but, anyhow…

To be continued… 


	6. Always and Forever

Disclaimer: Digimon does not belong to me.

Always Here

Always and Forever

"Sora, can you hand me that plant?" My mom asked me. 

"Sure." I gave it to her.

"Thank you. We'll bring this tomorrow."

"Okay. I'm going to go play tennis with my friend. I'll see you later."

"Okay, dear." Mom was deep into her flowers and wasn't really paying attention to a word I said. I could have said I was going to Antarctica to research prairie dogs or something and she would have just said, "have fun," without realizing that prairie dogs don't live Antarctica or that I was going there without a sweater. She's always into them, but unless she's saying what she's going to bring to Dad tomorrow, she's a total zombie at this time. 

It's funny in away. The time when we most need each other is when we're the farthest apart. She's lost in her world of flowers, and I'm somewhere, usually Tai's house. He's the only one that keeps me sane during this. Without him, I don't know what I'd do. Which is why I'm going to play tennis. It helps me ease my frustrations and clear my head. And I was going to need that, since I might not have him this year.

We may have aged, but, up until now, our friendship hadn't changed. Every so often there was that romance element that most times we didn't speak of on a normal day. We never became an official couple, I just assumed we were one and it would stay that way. Boy was I wrong. Usually I don't go for more than a day without seeing him. Now I haven't even spoken to him in over a week. And rumors have been circulating that he's seeing someone.

I pushed my thoughts aside and focused on the game and nothing else. I felt like all the bad things were being bounced around with the ball until they wouldn't come back again. Afterwards, I felt ready to handle anything the world would throw at me, and on my own, too.

"Great game, Sora." My friend Gwen said.

"Yeah, you too." I put my racket in my duffle bag.

"I saw your friend Tai yesterday," she said nonchalantly. If Gwen had one major fault, she was extremely nosy.

"Oh? That's nice."

"I didn't talk to him. He was talking to someone on a pay phone."  
"You were eavesdropping?"

"Well, I wouldn't say eavesdropping. I just overheard. Wanna know what he said?"

"Not really," I replied.

She told me anyway. "He said no way he was doing something tomorrow because he has better things to do."

Now I was listening, even though I didn't want to be. "Than what?"

"I believe he called it a "total waste of time." And he mentioned something about a flood, I think it was a metaphor though. I only heard bits and pieces."

"A flood? As a metaphor?" As in, crying?

"Yeah, it sounded weird to me. Do you know what it means?"

"No, I'd better go," I said. 

"Okay." She didn't notice that I was upset. 

I couldn't believe it. A total waste of time? Is that all he thinks this is? He always used to say how he'd never ditch me for someone better because there is no one. Was he lying to me all this time? Or did he simply not care anymore? All my confidence had been destroyed by someone eavesdropping. There was only on thought that consoled me at all. I could handle things on my own, without him. It's time I grew up and faced the reality that maybe friendships don't last forever. And neither does love. And people who say they'll always be there aren't. It was childish for me to think so.

* * * * * *

I came down to breakfast in a foul mood. 

"Aren't you going soon?" Mom asked. 

"Where? I don't have any place to go."  
"Don't you usually go to cemetery with Tai around this time?"  
"Not this year." I wasn't too surprised that she knew. I couldn't hide it from her forever.

"How come?"

I shrugged. "Things change."

"Is everything all right with you two?"

"Yeah, everything's fine." I didn't look at her when I said that.

"It doesn't sound that way," Mom said. "What happened?"

"I guess we just weren't the friends I thought we were."

"Did you have a fight?"

I shook my head. "I thought everything was fine until yesterday. My friend overheard him talking on the phone. He said that it was a waste of time and about a flood. That was what he said but I think he meant…" I started crying. "See?"

Mom looked at me funny. "Are you sure Tai was talking about that? Because I think…" She was cut off by the doorbell. 

"Who could that be?" I wiped my eyes and went to answer the door. It was Tai.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. 

"I thought I was the one who was supposed to forget." Tai said. "Ready to go?"

"I… I didn't expect you to come."

"We do it every year. I was waiting for you for over an hour."

"But I thought you said it was a waste of time." I blurted out.

"I never said that." Tai raised his eyebrow. "Why would I say a thing like that? This is the second time this happened. Either one of us is losing it, or we need to communicate better. I know I haven't seen you for a while, but really. You know me better than that. Not once would I say it's a waste of time."

"But my friend heard you say that on the phone."

"No way. Your friend needs to get her information straight. What I said is a waste of time is waiting for the plumber to come fix the bathroom sink. There's a whole the size of a black gear. We practically have to wear flippers. Mom's wondering why the curtains are all torn up. Gatomon was climbing on them to get away from the water. It's a big flood."

I was so relieved I hugged him. 

"I never would bail out on you. Never. I love you." He whispered. 

"I love you, too," I said. But there was one thing that needed to be cleared up. "About those rumors, um…"  
"You've got to stop believing everything you hear. I've heard those. People need to get their eyes checked. Hear of me being with a girl wearing glasses? Or a girl with short brown hair? And both on the short side?"

"Something like that."

"It was Kari and Yolei. They've made me take them to the mall almost everyday this week."  
"Oh. I'm sorry I doubted you."  
"It's all right. Remember, I'll always be here for you, no matter what."

"Promise?"

"I promise, Sora. I'll always will. Forever."

And he kept his promise. 

The End. 


End file.
